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Havilah: Crashing into Emeralds
by Kate Mattern |
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| On
her new CD, Havilah Rand sings, "I should be kissing white
boys, you should be drinking yourself to sleep ..." Crashing
into Emeralds, the follow up to her first full length solo
album, Superfarmhouse, came out last June. The CD
combines the delicate beauty of her voice, lyrical turns, and musicianship
with the production talent of Bruce Harvie and Phil Sottile. The
result is one of those albums that sounds familiar the first time
you put it on, and stays with you like a good friend. |
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WOMANROCK.com:
How did your experiences playing in a band [Seattle band Wish
1990-1992] affect your performances, recordings, and songwriting
as a solo artist?
Havilah:
Being the lead singer in a rock band helped to hone my ability as
a performer, not just a vocalist. Wish also provided me with
my first recording experiences. One of the many valuable lessons
I learned during my experience in the band was that I needed to
sing my own lyrics and melodies to be totally satisfied creatively.
My dream is to make a career of composing and performing my own
material.
WOMANROCK.com:
What would you describe as your ideal performance setting?
Havilah:
Concert halls, theaters, chapels, places where people have the intention
of enjoying live music in a sit-down-and-listen concert setting.
The audience is quiet and attentive yet lively and open to humor
and interaction, the venue has character, amazing acoustics, top
quality PA and pays me enough to make it to the next town and do
it again.
WOMANROCK.com:
What brought you to Interlochen for high school?
Havilah:
I was miserable in public school where all any one cared about was
clothes, beer and soccer. My voice teacher had me apply, I would
have gone anywhere just to get out but fell in love with Interlochen.
The campus was set in the woods next to a lake. It has been in existence
for over sixty years and creativity and passion leak from every
cabin and practice room. The teachers are supportive of every student's
dreams and unique talent. My best friends from Interlochen are my
best friends now. Interlochen gave me confidence at a crucial point
in my life. The self-esteem of a teenager is extremely vulnerable
and valuable.
WOMANROCK.com:
How did it prepare you for your career now?
Havilah:
It gave me a solid background in terms of vocal training and the
technical and theoretical aspects of music. It also gave me a chance
to write music at a point in my life when I was most passionate
about living and found my creative energy extremely accessible.
Most important, it gave me the confidence to put my dreams before
the things that American culture train us to believe are most important
like financial stability, college degrees, etc. Those things have
value but in my opinion, not as much as happiness and the opportunity
to touch, challenge and change the world outside of you through
creative expression. The logistics of survival seem to always fall
into place when a person is following the path that brings the most
joy to themselves and to others.
WOMANROCK.com:
How did music enter your life and to what extent did it shape your
early years?
Havilah:
I never practiced piano much except to write songs. I started lip-synching
a lot to the radio and to Barbara Streisand after school when I
was about nine. The basement was my stage and I would dance and
sing to Top 40 with a turkey baster/microphone in my hand for hours.
I loved singing loud and often didn't hear other people come in
the room till it was too late. I felt really embarrassed but after
auditioning for a few musicals and getting lead roles, I discovered
I had a voice people wanted to listen to.
WOMANROCK.com:
Were you always a musician? What did you do before you knew music
was your chosen career?
Havilah:
I have always been a musician. I have other interests though and
would love to study anthropology and travel the world and will one
of these days. I also love to be outside, to garden, cook, ride
horses, lay on the couch and watch movies ... I also want to be
a mom.
WOMANROCK.com:
Are you signed or have you had any experience with the major labels?
Havilah:
I have had a few majors contact me requesting materials and then
say they weren't interested. Well neither am I.
WOMANROCK.com:
What is the biggest challenge of running your own label?
Havilah:
Making enough money to keep doing it.
WOMANROCK.com:
How would you describe your feelings towards the record industry
as a whole as well as in relation to your own personal experiences?
Are you a fan or foe of Napster?
Havilah: (on being an independent)
These are both really complex issues, as a struggling artist of
course I want the opportunity to spend 100% of my time working on
it, get paid well, play to hundreds of people, etc. Not everyone
is Ani DiFranco, many of us will never create a buzz to that extent
on our own. Promotion and marketing are integral parts to selling
enough product to pay living expenses and record the next CD. So
there's a part of me that wonders if I wouldn't jump at the chance
to be signed to a major label. On the other hand, it annoys the
hell out of me to hear the same stupid songs played over and over
a zillion times a day on commercial radio stations, I hate MTV and
videos that are less music and more boobs, special effects and fancy
cars, I resent the commercial record industry for force feeding
the masses the same boring shit, ignoring quality music and preferring
a cute face and nice ass to meaningful lyrics, powerful messages
and cutting edge musical expression.
Havilah: (on the media)
I like not having anyone telling me what to wear or say or write
about or how to write it. I don't think I'd have that same artistic
freedom with a major label. I'm psyched that technology provides
independent artists an affordable means to recording their own music,
their own videos and creating promotional materials independent
of management companies. The Internet is revolutionizing the industry
and transforming the accessibility and marketability of independent
expression artistically and otherwise. More and more individuals
have more and more access to information, world news and issues,
art, and global communication every day and its fucking mind-blowing
how much insight and input that's allowing the individual compared
to when the corporately owned television and radio news stations
and newspapers were all that provided the public with information
on the cities and world we live in.
Havilah: (on music technology)
Here's a small problem though, it's an exciting time to be an independent
artist, and everyone knows it, so the number of independent artists
has suddenly timed itself by about a hundred thousand which has
caused an over saturation of the market, in my opinion. There's
so much damn music and art now that its getting really hard for
everyone to get a piece of the pie. The pie being listener support
and financial stability based on CD sales. There's so much to choose
from. Its great in some ways and sort of dismaying to me in others
when I see that I'm like #1787564 on the MP3 charts. As for Napster,
I'm for it now since it can only work in my favor by giving me free
promotion and exposure. If I was a record label or Neil Young, I
guess I might be pissed that people were getting my product for
free. However, if I was Neil Young I'd have enough sales already
that it wouldn't really affect me anyway. I think its only like
really famous people and big labels that are being affected the
most right now. There's no way anyone can stop the direction the
accessibility of music is going in, it will just take some time
to iron out the technicalities and logistics of it.
WOMANROCK.com:
What or who inspires you musically and lyrically ... what types
of influences or experiences do you draw upon in your songwriting?
Havilah:
I love Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, lots of jazz singers, Gladys
Knight, Lucinda Williams, I'm really into honesty, I never want
to be contrived or pretentious. I try to write about subjects that
are really on my mind and in my heart. My goals is to touch others,
to make them feel something and I feel like I can't do that if I
pretend to be or feel something I'm not.
WOMANROCK.com:
Have you done a lot of touring to promote this record?
Havilah:
I've toured California with Crashing Into Emeralds and Colorado,
Utah and the East Coast with Superfarmhouse.
WOMANROCK.com:
Any good road stories you'd like to share?
Havilah:
Tons, the most memorable being sitting in a claw foot bathtub naked
on the top of a hill outside at sunset just outside of Zion National
Park in Utah with a great looking guy I'd met the day before.
WOMANROCK.com:
Who are the other members of the band and their contributions to
the group as a whole?
Havilah:
Brett Lovins helped me produce Superfarmhouse and plays many stringed
instruments on it. Mike Simmons plays drums and he is a truly a
god when it comes to rhythm. Dr. Jimmy Lindquist plays some of the
bass tracks on Superfarmhouse, he is a great musician and friend.
Bruce Harvie and Phil Sottile helped me with Crashing Into Emeralds
and play most of the instruments on that, Phil mainly plays wicked
electric slide guitar and Bruce is a truly amazing mandolin player.
All of these guys play live with me once in awhile also. We rock!!
WOMANROCK.com:
Do you have a mantra or a message you try to convey to your audiences
or advice for aspiring female singers/songwriters?
Havilah:
Listen to your heart carefully, it doesn't speak very loud and if
you stop trying to hear it, it will stop speaking to you. All women
are beautiful, each in her own unique, mysterious way. Find your
voice and use it loudly!
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_________________________________
Havilah's CD's Superfarmhouse, (1997) Crashing Into Emeralds
(1999) are both available on the Internet at:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~havilah
and by mailing $17 to PO BOX 5263 Bellingham, WA 98227. |
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_________________________________
Kate Mattern is a freelance writer. |
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